Dec 26, 1990
3 Nephi 14:15- We must always be on our guard against those who pretend to be prophets but are actually instruments in Satan’s hands. There are a few principles that will protect US from false prophets if they are followed.
- There is only one living prophet on the earth who had authority to receive revelation for the earth as a whole (D&C 43:3)
- All prophets testify of Jesus Christ. (3 Nephi 11:10)
- Prophet do not contradict each other. (3 nephi 11:29)
- We must seek spiritual confirmation from the Father through the Holy Ghost of all things. (John 14:26, 15:26) Logic can never be substituted for the promptings of the Spirit. This step is by far the most important.
- Verse 16: We will certainly know men by the fruits of their labors. it is interesting to note that it is possible to deceive for a period of time, but eventually the thorns will show through the flowers. Flowers don’t always bear fruit.
Verse 17: Good men bring forth good works. works show forth one’s heart. No matter how much a man believes, if he never acts on those beliefs they have not power. They have not power unto salvation.
Verse 18: A good source can not bring forth evil, but a good source can be corrupted. A corrupt source can never be made pure.
White light can be changed to red (ie. filters or prisms) but red light can never be changed to white.
Well, today has been kind of a different day. Elder Watson still had not received a package from home for Christmas so we spent the morning trying to track down his package.
All of the Hmong people are either in Fresno or getting ready to go. I have felt really sick today. I’m not sure what is wrong with me. It must be something that I ate yesterday at that party. I’m going to bed.
I did contact some members today who wanted to come back to church and had friends who they said would like to come to church, I’m tired and don’t want to stay awake. I’m excited to go to Fresno soon.
Dec 28, 1990
Well, we just got back from Fresno. It was really fun to go to Hmong New Year. There were at least 50,000 Hmong people there. It was really fun because when I would start to speak Hmong to one of them, everyone would gather around to listen. It was an awesome way to make contacts. I’m not sure how good any of these referrals will turn out, because some of them live in places where there are no Hmong speaking Elders. We were even able to teach some discussions while we were there. I also got to go and visit some of the people that I had worked with in Fresno. It was really good to see them. I never realized what strong friendships are formed by teaching someone the gospel. The neat part is that they will ALWAYS be my friends.
Matthew 26:3- Judas Iscariot prolonged his repentance until it was to too late. If he would have repented while his sins were yet in the thought stage, he could have been forgiven. But after the act was committed he was unable to repent. Those who participate in murder rarely, very rarely are able to obtain forgiveness.
3 Nephi 14:19- It is not enough to simply have faith. If WE want to be saved, WE must always bring forth good works. The difference between those who truly have faith and those who pretend to faith is their works. WE must do all of OUR works according to the principles and ordinances of the gospel.
Verse 20: It is possible for us to know who truly follows God simply by the fruits of their labors. Those who bring forth evil and corruption are not of God, and WE should avoid these at all cost.
Verse 21: We must not only accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, but we must do the will of the Father. we must bring forth fruits unto repentance. Without these fruits, we cannot have repented properly.
Today has been kind of a different day. We got back from Fresno today at about noon. This morning we went to a party with Yia Vang. If that lady doesn’t make it to the Celestial Kingdom, I don’t know of anyone that will.
After arriving home, we studied for a while and prepared all of our referrals to be sent in. We ended up with about 27 families that had told me that they would like the missionaries to come and vista them, so the trip to Fresno was quite productive as far as missionary work goes.
This evening we went to Tulare and taught a couple of discussions. I feel pretty food about the people we are seeing. I only wish that there was something that I could do to help them or get them to make commitments.
I got a long letter from Jane today. I am really confused inside about it. I don’t know what happened to her and Jack. i don’t know what to do about it either. It is just really a sad situation I guess.
Dec 29, 1990
Mark 1: 4- Baptism and the regular partaking of the sacrament are important steps in the process of repentance. Without these key ordinances, full repentance is not possible. I can’t wait to take the sacrament tomorrow.
3 Nephi 14:22- At the day of judgment, there will be many who will profess to have done works in the name of Jesus Christ. the works listed here can all be copied by Satan. The only way that we can tell the difference between those who get the gifts from Satan and those who get them from Christ is through the discernment of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 23: Christ will tell those who have done works while in inquiry to depart from Him. WE must always strive to keep from being counted among the people who have worked iniquity. It is not necessary to actually to bad works in order to work iniquity. All that is necessary to work iniquity is to not work enough good.
Dec 29, 1990
Today was fought because all of the Hmong people were still up in Fresno. My comp and I split up this morning. He went with the Span- Am Elders and I went with Elder Kit and Elder Mannewity to visit some Laotian people. I guess it gave us something to do anyway.
This evening we went and taught a discussion to a guy whose name was in the area book, but hadn't seen any mission airs for 6 months. He had been waiting until February for his family to come to America before being baptized. Hopefully, not only his family but also those coming from Thailand will want to be baptized. I really hope that they will stick with it.
My comp had been really depressed lately. I’m not too sure why. Tonight we went to get pizza, on me. He just hadn’t been talking much. I didn’t talk mush all night. I’m going to have to try to talk to him about it tomorrow if he doesn’t feel bester in the morning.
I spent this evening waiting a talk for tomorrow morning. After working on it for a while, I decided to just wing it. I think I have too much of my father in me.
Dec 30, 1990
Mark 1:15- It is interesting to me that Christ expects us as members of the church and as missionaries to proclaim the same message as He did. Care must be taken to see that we continue to not only preach His gospel but to also continue to repent and believe the gospel we are teaching.
3 Nephi 14:24- Those who hear and do according the things Christ taught have their foundation built upon rock. As long as WE continue to progress in both our understanding and works in the gospel, WE will continue to have the foundation of OUR life and relationship remain firm and strong.
Verse 25: Satan will try many things to cause OUR family to divide asunder and fall, but as long as WE keep our eyes single to our foundation Jesus Christ, and living according to His gospel, OUR relationship and family will survive all of the buffetings that Satan can offer.
Verse 26; If we hear the sayings of Christ through scriptures and prophets and do them not, but we built our foundations on the movable things of the world, how sad. WE need to review our goals and actions every evening of our lives to insure that this does not happen to us in anyway, shape of form.
Verse 27: Home and families that are built upon things of the world will also be buffeted by Satan, but they will not survive Satan’s temptations. They will fall and be destroyed.
Dec 30, 1990
Today was a good day. I spoke in church this morning. I guess my talk went pretty well. It’s not nearly as much fun to speak in an American ward as it is in a Hmong meeting. after my talk there, I went to our Hmong meeting and spoke. Our Hmong meeting was really discouraging. We only had one family show up. That definitely was disappointing, but it was New Year’s time. I just hope that things pick up soon. I just don’t know how to reach these people.
After our church, we went to Hanford to go to church. We met with the Bishop there for about an hour. Things certainly look promising there. They have a number of Aaronic Priesthood holders and one Melchzedek Priesthood holder. hopefully we can get things there headed in the way that they should be.
Tonight, we went our with Elder Bohn ( My MTC teacher). It was so much fun. His Hmong is still excellent, and I was able to really learn a lot. it was also good to meet someone that really understands how I feel. We talked about a lot of the stuff going on here. I think that it kind of got my hopes up again.
Dec 31, 1990
Mark 6:12- The twelve apostles went out and taught that ALL men should repent. They did not teach that only some needed to repent, but rather that ALL men have need to repent. i am in great need of repentance. I just hope that I can bring forth enough works meet for repentance.
Alma 11:1Mormon wanted us to understand the faults within the system of government that the Nephites were using.
Verse 2: We will also be bought before Christ to be judged. Of we are also found guilty, we will be stripped and case out. There is no way to escape paying for our sins after we die. However, repentance before death allows us to not be complained of to the judge. There is great parallel in the system set forth here and the system of the last day.
Verse 3: As the judges received wages in different kinds, so will we receive different types of blessings for our service to God. However, the blessings that each of us receive will be of equal value to us in our own lives. As the judges received wages by acting in accordance with the law, We also will be blessed according to the level of obedience we exercise to the law upon which the blessings we receive are predicated.
I am really feeling like I need to come up with a new way to do things. I have been working my guts out, but I have been totally and completely unable to get anyone to commit to anything. I wish I knew what to do. I’m going to have to pray harder and work harder.
We went to Tulare today and taught discussions to a couple of families. i just wish that they could understand better the importance of the message which I carry. There has to be a way to get them to understand.
I can’t believe it’s New Year’s Eve! This will be the first time in years that I haven’t been awake for the new year. It’s also only the second time I haven’t had to swim until I thought I would die.
My leather coat finally got here from home. It’s too bad that it will be warm in another month.
Jan 1, 1991
Alma 11:4- The Nephites had altered their system of weights and measures from one generation to the next according to the needs and desires of each generation. There are many who have changed the gospel of Jesus Christ from generation to generation for the same reason- to fit the desires of each generation.
Alma 11:5-19- I wish I could say that I knew exactly why this passage is included in the Book of Mormon, but I don’t. Perhaps it is to show that blessings are in differing amounts and forms, but it seems more probable that they are included to show the level of civilization that the Nephites had obtained.
Verse 20- This is exactly why priestcraft (Paid ministry0 is an abomination to the Lord. If these leaders were successful at their job, they would be out of work. Priests that are paid to hear confessions would be our of work if people quit sinning. when one’s loyalty is turned away from people and turned to money, his effectiveness as a leader is gone.
Verse 21- The devil had turned Zeezrom’s heart to money Zeezrom wanted to catch the servant of the Lord in a trap that he might destroy him.
Well, today Elder Watson and Elder Kit teamed up together so that they could fo over to a Mien family’s house all day. Elder Mannewity and I were together all day long. We basically didn’t do a whole lot anyway. We washed our clothes, went to the store, and we even went to the mall for a little while. After that, we came home and just wrote letters. I kind of like to be able to just do nothing at all on p-day. If I try to go and do 50 things on p-day, I don’t get a chance to relax, and there is no chance to real any other day either.
I wrote letters to both Jane and Jack today. That took me quite a while because I wanted to be very careful about what I said. I wrote quite a few letters today.
We went and taught a discussion tonight to jar and Me Xiong. It seemed to go fairly well. I think that they finally understand the importance of praying to find our which church is true and then attending that church. I guess I can only hope and pray that they will be able to find the truth. I hope I’ve done and will continue to do my part.
No comments:
Post a Comment